NIU riding high heading into MAC title game

Huskies ranked in Top 25, have 9-game winning streak as it prepares to take on Miami of Ohio on Friday

November 30, 2010|By Fred Mitchell, Tribune reporter

The spoils of victory already are accumulating for Northern Illinois, winners of nine straight and ranked in the Top 25 in both major national polls.

"I congratulated the team and that's about all I said about it," NIU coach Jerry Kill said Tuesday of his team's recent national acclaim. "To be very honest, I think it's great for the school; I think it's great for the program. You can't be ashamed to have good publicity now. And you can't be ashamed of something you are rewarded for after winning 10 ballgames to this point.

"I said: 'Now, that's great, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't take care of business on Friday.'"

On Friday (6 p.m., ESPN2) the Huskies attempt to win their first Mid-American Conference title since 1983 when they face Miami of Ohio at Ford Field in Detroit.

"This is the end of the race. Will we be able to finish it?" Kill said.

NIU (10-2, 8-0) has averaged 65 points in its last three wins over Toledo, Ball State and Eastern Michigan.

"Anytime you win 10 games, that's a pretty good season," Kill said. "But we've talked all year about the journey we're on. We want to get to Detroit and now you've got to finish the journey.

"Nobody knows what's going to happen on Friday, but I think the biggest thing these kids need to do is they need to enjoy the process. They don't need to play tight or anything like that. They just need to play like they've been doing … have fun playing the game. Let the chips fall where they may."

Miami (8-4, 7-1) will be making its first visit to the MAC title game since 2007.

"They don't turn over the ball, they play smart … they are a solid football team," Kill said. "They are very similar to us. They don't beat themselves. You have to beat them."

"A lot of us feel that we probably haven't played our best game yet," NIU linebacker Alex Kube said.

"We don't come close to executing as well as we can every week. That's a tribute to how good we can be," added quarterback Chandler Harnish.

"If we can clean up on the little things, it's scary what our offense can do," receiver Nathan Palmer said.

Following the MAC title game, NIU should be in great demand to play in a bowl game.

"We have a lot of momentum going and we just want to keep riding the wave," Harnish said.